Baked feta (V)

I don't often have the chance to cook this as Tobias dislikes "stinky" cheese. By which, he means anything that isn't firm and made from cows' milk. Yes, my life is hard sometimes.

Unless you have a similar antipathy to stinky cheese, though, you will find this to be a brilliant starter for a dinner party. You can prepare it hours ahead of time, leave it wrapped in its foil and just bake at the last minute. I would usually serve it with some coarse white bread, like ciabatta, to scoop it up with.

Serves 4, as a starter

200g feta

a sprig of rosemary

2 cloves of garlic

a pinch of dried, crushed chilli flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Peel the garlic, and crush it with a pestle and mortar. Chop the herbs roughly, and mix with the chopped garlic, chilli flakes and olive oil.

Drain the feta and cut into quarters. Place each piece on a square of foil big enough to completely enclose it. Divide the olive oil mixture between the pieces of cheese, dolloping a teaspoon or so on top of the cheese, letting the oil trickle down the edges of the cheese.

Gather up the foil to make little parcels and squeeze it together at the top so each parcel is roughly sealed.

Put the foil wrapped cheese pieces on a baking tray (or even directly on the oven shelf) and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Unwrap the foil and lift out the cheeses carefully onto individual plates. Pour over the garlicky, herby oil from the foil. Serve immediately, to spread on pieces of coarse white bread.